Avril Lavigne -- like her breakthrough single from 2002 -- is, in a word, complicated.
The diminutive Canadian with the gargantuan voice has made a career sk8ing the line between pop and punk, cannily switching her target from charts to hearts and back again. For a time, it seemed the former had prevailed: 2007's "The Best Damn Thing" was a candy-coated collection of prefabricated, post-feminist party-starters written with proven hit-makers -- and halfheartedly dismissed by Avril as ''just songs'' (burn!).
In contrast, "Goodbye Lullaby" seeks balance: The first half is loaded with glossy confections, while the second consists of quieter reflections clearly inspired by (and, bizarrely, produced by) her ex-husband, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley.
Surprisingly, it's the early tunes, many concocted in the bunker of Swedish genius Max Martin, that show the most personality: The Farfisa-fueled ''What the Hell'' and the sassy ''Smile,'' with its talk of doctored drinks and blackout tattoos, restore Avril to her rightful place ahead of Katy Perry and Ke$ha in the Sisterhood of the Negligible Pants.
But when left alone -- on gauzy ballads like ''Everybody Hurts'' (an original that somehow manages to be less deep than the R.E.M. standard) -- the recently divorced 26-year-old seems desperate to share an artistic inner self that's far from fully formed.
''Open up your heart...so I can show you who I am,'' she pleads on ''Stop Standing There.'' It's not us, Avril. It's you! B-
The diminutive Canadian with the gargantuan voice has made a career sk8ing the line between pop and punk, cannily switching her target from charts to hearts and back again. For a time, it seemed the former had prevailed: 2007's "The Best Damn Thing" was a candy-coated collection of prefabricated, post-feminist party-starters written with proven hit-makers -- and halfheartedly dismissed by Avril as ''just songs'' (burn!).
In contrast, "Goodbye Lullaby" seeks balance: The first half is loaded with glossy confections, while the second consists of quieter reflections clearly inspired by (and, bizarrely, produced by) her ex-husband, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley.
Surprisingly, it's the early tunes, many concocted in the bunker of Swedish genius Max Martin, that show the most personality: The Farfisa-fueled ''What the Hell'' and the sassy ''Smile,'' with its talk of doctored drinks and blackout tattoos, restore Avril to her rightful place ahead of Katy Perry and Ke$ha in the Sisterhood of the Negligible Pants.
But when left alone -- on gauzy ballads like ''Everybody Hurts'' (an original that somehow manages to be less deep than the R.E.M. standard) -- the recently divorced 26-year-old seems desperate to share an artistic inner self that's far from fully formed.
''Open up your heart...so I can show you who I am,'' she pleads on ''Stop Standing There.'' It's not us, Avril. It's you! B-
